A French girl's musings…

Unnecessary cheap tricks

This is my 5 minutes write up about last night’s The Walking Dead Season Finale – for the other Walking Dead addicts on here.

Okay, this is how I see it: Carol went from absolute badass to a pussycat who cannot handle killing anymore, in about 5 minutes. Does that make sense? No. Not one little bit, I can buy the change of heart but you have to build it up, it just wouldn’t happen overnight, no way. Then the Saviours somehow managed to block every single road AND somehow knew where the gang was going to stop to hatch their little plan? (btw, never has whistling in a dark forest seem SO creepy) I know Negan is powerful, but is he THAT powerful? And how did they know that Rick was going to be leaving Alexandria with the others? They couldn’t possibly know that Maggie was going to have a medical emergency… were they hoping they were going to come in search of Glenn and co? Or were they waiting JUST IN CASE?

The group would never have had to take Maggie away if they didn’t let their ONLY doctor go on a run, totally stupidly, only for her to predictably get shot through the eye. And Daryl and the others leaving last week was also incredibly stupid. Not to mention the awful habit everyone has developed of stopping in the middle of forests, rail tracks, etc…to havedeep, intense or life-affirming (loud) chats when they should know better by now: you’ve gotta keep moving, SILENTLY, or bad things are going to happen!! In fact, this half season has been one spectacularly bad decision after another.

Anyway, all in all, we KNEW what was going to happen, we knew we were going to meet Negan (whom I found waaay too cool and likeable actually because, er, I’m supposed to hate him!), at the end of the episode of course, we knew somebody was going to get killed, and we knew there was going to be a cliffhanger…and I’m fine with all that… but WHY not let us see who got killed? It seems like SUCH a cheap trick. Isn’t the fact that somebody gets killed and Rick and co are in such a dire situation ENOUGH of a cliffhanger and enough to whet our appetites for next season? Come on!! I was SO upset after watching the finale last night that I left my house and went to McDonalds, I NEEDED junk food real actual bad. I broke my diet because of you AMC!

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60 thoughts on “Unnecessary cheap tricks”

I know – no need for that much of a cliffhanger. They already have the most popular cable show, so why the shenanigans? Back to the episode. Carol. Something IS up with her, and although I thought that she may be having a Tyreese moment, there has to be more to it. Does the outcome follow the comic? Well, it has at certain junctures, but the most popular character isn’t even in the comic – Daryl. So, it’s hard to say with certainty that the person who dies in the comic is the same one who dies on the show. I am going out on a limb here and judging by the count of the word ‘fuck’ and it’s variables, I would say that you didn’t like the last episode. 😀 I’m somewhat in agreement, Nathalie. Fuckin’ AMC……

Haha, this is most probably incoherent but it was written in 5 minutes 😂
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this show and I did like the episode…up until the end when I thought: “they’re not going to dare NOT show us who dies! They’re not!…dammit they did!!” I was SO annoyed. And as I said there’s too much that just doesn’t make sense. Rant over! Lol

I felt gutted after the ending. The Talking Dead didn’t help, either. It’s going to take some very clever writing to pull all of these improbable loose ends together in September. Did I just say FUCKING SEPTEMBER????? 😀

I didn’t watch The Talking Dead, I went to McDonald’s instead 😂 and then watched The People v OJ Simpson.
It’s on my tevo box though so I’ll probably take a look soon.
Yes, we have months to wait now, it’s HARSH….bring on FUCKING SEPTEMBER!! 😂

From what I’ve read, the show uses the comics as a general template, but not necessarily adhering to the story lines. I would imagine the big story lines, like Neegan and The Governor were followed closely. Sigh. I don’t know. Maybe Fear the Walking dead will whet my appetite until September.

I think what works best about TWD is that the characters are relateable. There are no sympathetic characters (so far) on Fear. Not one. So far, if one gets taken by a walker, no one cares. I guess it’s like cheap wine – When the Pichon Lalande isn’t available, the box wine will have to do. 😀

I agree with everything 100%, and dammit, yes, Negan is charming and way easy on the eyes. It has to be that way or he wouldn’t have so many followers who deep down resent him, but still follow him. He not a Rick kill to save your loved ones psychopath, he’s more a never let them see you sweat cause he’s the devil psychopath. Oh, and another reason I think just MAYBE Rick would have been the “taking it like a champ” person, cause he pretty much handed over Judith’s life to Fr. Gabriel and also the protection of Alexandria. That could have been a foreshadowing. I add many FUCKS to your FUCKS, but you KNOW I’m gonna be there on the edge of my sofa 6 months from now, dammit!!! I refuse to read spoilers though, my youngest daughter is always trying to get me to read them and I go ‘LALALALALA I can’t hear yoooouuuu!’ 🙂 hugs my sweet N

Can I just say that if Rick dies, I shall go in mourning and it’s going to take me weeks to recover from it. Maybe that’s why I refuse to entertain the idea at all, I can’t even handle the idea of it 😨
I’m the same as you, I don’t want to hear about any spoilers, and I will be there in 6 months time, frothing at the mouth with excitement and anticipation. In spite of everything, I LOVE this show, even if maybe that didn’t transpire in this post 😂
Hugs to you too gorgeous 💜😘

Oh, I know you love the show, we all do. It’s like a member of your family. You can bitch about them, but no one else better. 🙂 I don’t think it’s Rick… I am just freaked out too how undone he became… Carl is cool as a cucumber, Rick’s all in a pickle. It’s so scary. I know it’s not Rick… and we will find out together come Oct. yikes!! I need a Walking Dead Calendar… lol Hugs, Beauty! xoxoxo

I know! Rick has been the King of everything for so long, I think it was a mighty shock to see it all crumble away like that. He was in such a state! It actually hurt me to see it, but I suppose he had become slightly arrogant…
I LOVE the idea of a Walking Dead calendar 😉
💜😘

My response to both of the beautiful women above (I missed that in my original response on your other post, Nathalie!) – I don’t see Rick or Daryl getting thumped. I think that there’s so much branding by AMC with these two characters that it makes it difficult from a PR point of view, to have them removed. There was something ominous about the way Eugene parted ways with Abraham. Maybe one of them goes?

Yes, I tend to agree with you Rob, not Rick and not Daryl, as you say they pretty much carry the show, don’t they? I just told the gorgeous girl that Eugen appears obvious because of the way he offered himself as “sacrifice”…and how they all parted with him…but maybe that’s a red herring!!

I’m just a little too old for the happy meal and the toy Antony! 😀
If you must know, I had a big mac with a large fries and a chocolate milkshake…if you’re gonna go for it, you have to go full out! Fuck the calories and the grease and the fat 😀

I believe they ended it on a cliff hanger without letting the fans know who got it, because enough fans keep up with the comic and know who got it in the comic from Negan. They are probably going to swerve on the show.

Carol didn’t just change over night. You need to remember that after the wolves at some point several months elapsed and the subtle changes to Carol were starting to manifest and build toward her breaking point when she had to kill the female saviors. I think Morgan got to her…but how about Morgan deciding to kill to save Carol. I actually think the arc dynamic between those two is really interesting.

We know from the episode with the female saviors that the group is larger and that they are sophisticated. Remember she spoke of going to Alpha channel and engaging something or another protocols. They’ve been kicking around on this turf for a while now and have some tactical sophistication. It is possible, if not plausible, that they had spies watching Alexandria. Observation is ket to any tactical assault. So D knew that Daryl was coming and that Glenn, Michonne and Rosita had followed? Its possible. Its also possible that the spies let Negan know about the camper movement (because he already knew the name Rick). We have to keep all of that in mind. The Saviors are no joke.

As for the cliffhanger…I think they should have shown us who was killed. I do think that was cheap and insulting to the fans. Especially those who bought into all the actor reaction interviews ect. I was PISSED…I yelled and threw the remote lol.

Now…my theory on who died. From the start of the episode we had point of view perspective (several times) of someone that was inside the box that D opens at the end. In the box, was Daryl, Glenn, Michonne and Rosita. Negan’s kill choice was filmed in point of view perspective as well. One can only assume that the PoV is a clue as to who died. So the choice would be between those 4. Of the 4, it would have to be someone who could take that first hit and have some resolve to get back up. To me that leaves 2 choices. Glen or Daryl. My gut tells me Glen and here is why. His character had to be running high adrenaline because he saw Maggie and sensed the imminent danger. I think Daryl might get back up from the first hit too…but considering his shoulder wound/blood loss, he may have already been too weak. I think it was Glen.

Omg Matt, WHY are you in the US? We so should be having this discussion over drinks! In fact, everyone who’s commented under this post I want to have drinks with!! Lol

Okay, I get what you’re saying with Carol, but it still *feels* too rushed. Plus, her point is that she is leaving because she can’t care about people as otherwise you end up “killing for them”…okay, but she has to kill to survive out there anyway, even on her own! Like, that’s the first thing she did when she left and got stopped in the car, she promptly dispatched 4 or 5 guys, I can’t remember…know what I mean? So her leaving doesn’t make sense. At all.

As for the Saviours, you’ve got a good point, I heard the theory about spies but dismissed it at the time, however what you say makes sense. I get that Negan’s group is big and organised…so how come we haven’t heard of them up till not so long ago? Same goes for Jesus and the others. Daryl and the others used to go on runs to try to find other survivors and so on…they never really found anyone and all along we have a group of Negan’s size around? But okay, let’s say Negan’s group has just arrived in the area…the way every single road was blocked, the walkers all chained up…this was highly organised and really impressive, hence they MUST HAVE known that Rick and the others were coming…so we go back to the spies thing again I guess.

As for who dies, I’m taking what you’re saying on board, and now I’m gonna have to watch that ending again…but IF it’s a major character who gets it, I can only see them willing to sacrifice Glenn, not Daryl. As Rob said above, Daryl is as popular and maybe even more than Rick, do we really see them willing to lose him? I doubt it…

I think where Carol is at is indicative of her state of confusion. She thought she had it figured out and then Morgan screwed with her head and now her state of mind is all messed up…so is Morgan’s now.

The only potential flaw which you kind of touched on is, why has Alexandria been untouched all this time if Negan has been out there? Is it possible that its because of the zombie quarry road block?? I don’t know. Hopefully they shore up some of these holes.

There’s been such a buildup prior to the airing of this last episode that I found myself peeing on my seat while watching. I totally assumed that we’d see who dies. So yeah, I share your sentiments: Fuck you AMC. lol!

I’ve not had a chance to watch Monday’s episode yet, but I’ve been searching for spoilers, so me being on here, is fine, cause I already know they did the dirties on us viewers 😀

Going back to Negan, when I discovered who they’d cast, I was like “nooooooooooo” he’s too yummy. He’s the love interest to Halle Berry’s character, Molly Woods in Extant. He’s way too attractive and likable to be Negan. Wondering if he can pull it off….I really don’t want to hate him. I’m in conflict and I’ve not even see the finale yet.

I also think Carol seemed to change a bit quick for my liking, even if it did take a few months, they didn’t really convey that shift in her particularly well.

My sister was watching it for the first time on the night Carol and Maggie were captured and had to kill Negans women, I was saying to her, “watch Carol, she’s pretending to be a wuss when really she’s a right bad ass, watch her, watch her.” Yeah she got the job done, but I did feel like giving her a ruddy good shake throughout it all, I mean Carol, not my sister. The change just felt too much, too fast.

Hoping to watch the show tonight after my son has caught up with the previous 2 episodes. I said that out loud to remind him we’re waiting.

Yes, same, to me the whole Carol thing wasn’t done well at all. It wasn’t a natural, gradual progression, well, it didn’t feel like it to me. As for Negan, I wanted to hate him real bad but he’s just too charismatic.
I do not know how you’ve waited that long, lol, I can barely wait till Monday evenings and I’m ready at 8.45, always with 15 minutes to spare 😉
Do let me know what you think once you’ve caught up!!

I watched the finale and yes it was good, but nowhere close to the show where we thought Glenn was a goner.

Maybe they’ve just spoiled us and we’re now expecting way too much?

I know in the comic it’s meant to be Glenn that cops it, but I’m wondering if it’s going to be Daryl. He was on the after show ‘Talking Dead’ and has been doing loads of other projects away from The Walking Dead. Hmmm I don’t know.

In the comics Rick and Carl have quite prominent roles with regards to Negan, but you never know with this show.

No, I don’t think they’ve spoiled us, I think they’ve lost direction a bit and are playing silly obvious tricks, when really, they don’t need to! Well, that’s my opinion anyway 🙂
As for who it is, I don’t think they’re going to go with Glenn because everyone knows it’s him in the comics but…then again I think the idea of Maggie raising that baby (if the baby survives) on her own has quite a lot of potential…so, I don’t know. I really don’t think it’s going to be Daryl because he’s THE most loved character, even more than Rick. I guess I really, really don’t know 😉

I think AMC is trying to keep us as the audience pumped for next season. I was curious myself too, who Negan killed (bashed in the head). I almost thought it was Carol, but its not…I’m curious who it is? It did upset me that AMC left us with a cliffhanger, I sure hope they make Negan more sinister or a big fucken asshole.

Have you read the comics? I haven’t I just love and enjoy watching The Walking Dead. Speaking of the walking dead, do you watch ‘Fear of the Walking Dead’?

I haven’t read the comics, I would love to read them as I’m a big comic fan but now I’m so involved in the to show, I don’t think it would be right…
And no, I’ve never watched Fear of The Walking Dead, I heard it wasn’t as good…and there’s only so much time on a day, so I decided not to bother with it. Do you like it??

This was a cheap, cop-out ending and is an insult to the fans. The Walking Dead show runners need to learn from GoT how to end a show with a cliff hanger where people die. GoT has that down pat. A big death of an important character at the end of a season IS the cliff hanger, not bloody playing “Who Shot J.R.” with your audience. My understanding is AMC has no end game in sight for WD. The plan is to simply let it go on, and on, and on. That’s how I feel about the series now. It simply goes on with nothing happening but LONG dragged out buildups to idiotically insulting cliff hangers that are poorly written, poorly conceived, and insultingly executed. Cheap, idiotic trick, AMC. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was great, but, at this point, I think I’m done with Walking Dead.

Oh wow, they really pissed you off, didn’t they? I read that a lot of people feel like you do. I’m not ready to give up on the show yet, although when I saw that last scene I was like, “NO! They’re not doing this to me again.” I was of course referring to the Glenn thing, this felt way too similar, exploitative in the exact same way.
Do you really think you won’t bother with the next season??

Coupe things I hope do not happen in the season 7 premier:
1. Let’s not forget that Aaron is in the Negan lineup as well. His presence screams Star Trek red shirt. Hope they don’t cop out and kill Aaron.
2. Carol and Morgan are out in the wild. Carol already stormed in an saved the day at Terminus. Let’s not have them team up and save the day somehow.

Lucilles victim:
My money is on Glenn. Afterall, they already “killed” him once. Even took his name off the credits the following episode only to have him hiding under the dumpster. So, in a way, he’s had the big sendoff major characters receive on The Walking Dead. Also, they’ve begun to build Maggies character into a leadership role. They may believe they can develop her character further as a single woman battling the loss of her husband.

Initially, I thought it was Carl. Just before Negan wails Lucille, he says something about if he moves then cut out the other eye and give it to his father. Then the clubbing begins and he says something about taking it like a man. Don’t know, seems too obvious.

You know, I think you may be right, Glenn seems like a good choice because it would also leave Maggie with a baby she has to raise without its dad, assuming the baby lives of course. Like you, I do think it would be a good storyline to pursue.
I’m torn between thinking they’re going to kill someone “minor” like Aaron or Eugene BUT they have said that this death will “completely change the dynamic of the group”, so surely that won’t happen?
Same as you, I don’t want them to have Carol and Morgan saving the day, but I really don’t think that will happen. I love Carol (well, I did until her meltdown) and I think she’s a force of nature, but even she can’t get them out of the mess they’re in right now. I don’t know, I really do t have a clue what’s going to happen. I’m just so very disappointed with that cheap trick with the camera at the end, it really was unnecessary.

Agreed that neither Carol nor Morgan will save the day. The first six seasons saw the ascendency of this core group. Season six saw so many stupid decisions made. Because of their over confidence? Rick flatly stated the world is theirs. He was wrong. Next season, I suspect, follows the fall of the group. They’ll live under Negans rule for a while. The season finale, or mid season finale begins the revolution against Negan. They’ll win, of course, but at what price?

And the finale was a stunt despite what was said on Talking Dead about it being the end of one story and the death the start of another.

Yes! I agree, I think Rick got arrogant, he surveyed all around him with the unmistakeable look of pride…well, pride comes before a fall…and how the mighty have fallen now. I quite like seeing that reflected in Rick’s face when he realised that it had all come crashing down…

Not that much, no. The show has got into the habit of doing those tricks…it’s not necessary, it’s a good show and incredibly successful, it doesn’t need to resort to that, as if it was chasing for ratings 🙂

Hahaha!! Ohh, Nat! I SO agree with you! Right after watching the finale I went and watched Talking Dead (which I almost never do, except when I’m not happy with an episode in hope to learn more, but of course they never tell you what you really want to know!) I loved the last 13 minutes of the finale and the suspense they were building throughout the entire episode, however it’s unnecessary to withhold the information on who got to get to know Lucile! I watched this scene a couple of times to try to get some of the hints they claim are in the last scene, to find out who it was, but obviously I have no idea who it actually is. I have a guess, but nothing more. I told myself not to think about It anymore and just wait it out. Good thing summer is coming up and keeps us busy(ier).
Reading your post on this finale really had me laughing, especially at the McDonalds part! Haha, oh too great! 😀

I’m the same as you, I have NO idea who it was, I’m just so annoyed we have to wait months to find out. It WAS a good episode, and it’s a good show! Hence why there’s no reason for them to play tricks on us, as if they need to chase ratings and so on. Anyway, we’ll find out in September and then we’ll all be discussing how outraged we are that it was “so and so” 😀
Glad you enjoyed the post, it really was written in 5 minutes coz I was crazy busy but I was just too pumped not to write anything about it. I really did go to McDonalds after watching it, I was emotionally all over the place and needed the junk 😂

I have read on various forums that Glen is the one who dies…and I don’t like it one damn bit. I adore Glen! He has evolved from the boy who got Rick out of the tank into something of a badass. I think His name appears third in the opening credits behind Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, so he is one of THE main characters, but I don’t think anybody but Rick and Carl are off limits to being knocked off.
I also read that Negan and Carl will develop a relationship next season.
And Rick and Michonne hooking up, I liked.
Like everyone else, I was pissed at how the season ended, but I love the show too much to abandon it.

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I'm French and I like to write. I'm opinionated, a real bookworm, obsessed with words, interested in Fashion & Style. I don't follow the crowd and I'm drawn towards *unique* people who have things to say. Intelligence is sexy and brains really do it for me.
I'm also a qualified journalist, in possession of the NCTJ diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists in the UK.